Eight Amaravati projects denied permission to use forest land

Amaravati: The ministry of environment’s Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) on Wednesday declined permission to eight infrastructure proposals for the capital region of Andhra Pradesh's Amaravati.

The committee rejected all the pleas stating that the user agencies did not explore options to use non-forest lands for the development of the projects.

The overall 3,306 hectares of forest land which includes the proposed projects to establish adventure eco-theme park, science city, integrated institutional complex, bio-diversity park, eco-tourism village, and other offices of various government agencies, particularly in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur forest division.

The ministry of environment formed an expert board to examine Andhra Pradesh’s plans for Amaravati after various environmental concerns were raised over the project since 2015.

Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) for infrastructure development involves the total project diversion of 13,267.12 hectares of forest land to non-forest works.

The six-member FAC committee said that the agency did not explore the hazards of picking up the projects on non-forest land which is higher than the entire surface of the capital.

“Area under reserve forest (RF) is less than 5% of the entire area of the capital region, which in the opinion of FAC is too less area as a green cover in any capital city,” stated the committee, which has the power to provide clearance for the project, according to The Times of India.

On November 15, the matter came up before the FAC which is headed by the director general of forest and special secretary Siddhanta Das.

The user agencies can now approach this committee after exploring the option of non-forest areas for these projects in the capital region of Andhra Pradesh.

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